Tips for Teaching Your Children The Difference Between Wants and Needs!

Tips for Teaching Your Children The Difference Between Wants and Needs
It seems to be no secret that we find ourselves in an age of materialism. People have so many more wants than every before. Not only have the amount of desires skyrocketed, but as a result, there seems to be a blurred line between wants and needs. This is likely why debt is a country wide crisis, both for our government and individuals. But does money buy happiness? As a rule, it does not, so all of the materialism that we are experiencing is tainting our views of happiness. We feel that things will make us happy and we need happiness. This stems to people buying things they can not afford in pursuit of this happiness, which makes them feel that the unnecessary items they are purchasing are needs. Children growing up in this time need to be steered away from this same fate. They need to learn from the mistakes of the millions of adults who now find themselves up to their ears in debt with no foreseeable way out. As a parent, you never want to find your child in this position, so here are a few tips to help teach your child the difference between wants and needs.

1. Teach them the value of money.
It is important that your child is taught from a very young age the value of a dollar. As a parent, it is your duty to teach your child proper money management, so that they may have a financially secure future. A great way to help teach this lesson is to give your children allowance in exchange for chores that they perform. This will teach them the lesson that hard work earns money. Now that your child has earning potential, it is time to stop impulse buying for them. If there is a toy that they want, you must teach them to save up for that toy. This will teach them that they will have to save up for the things they want in life, and also that they can not buy something until they have the money for it. This will lastly teach them to decide what they want to spend their money on, since they have a limited amount.

2. Help them find happiness in non-material things.
One of the biggest problems in America today is that people are buying things to give them happiness. They are forgetting about all the free sources of happiness, like spending time with family and friends, or spending time in the free outdoors and enjoying nature. Make sure that your child appreciates the free things in life, so they will not see happiness in material goods.

3. Always talk money with your kids.
As a parent, you are the source of information for all things important in your child’s life. Make sure that you talk to your children about money. Tell them about how you spend your money. Tell them about how you save your money. Tell them about your investments and assets. Give them as much information as possible on the decisions you make with your money and why you make them. This will likely encourage your children to act the same way with their money in the future.

Author Pam Johnson is a mother and elementary school teacher who constantly has to remind her students the difference between wants and needs. She recieved her degree from one of the Top 10 Best Online Colleges for Teachers.